Pittsburgh was able to deal with its distractions a little better than Kentucky, and it resulted in a 27-10 victory in the Compass Bowl on Saturday at Legion Field.

The Panthers (8-5) were playing for interim head coach Phil Bennett, their third coach in the last month after Dave Wannstedt resigned under pressure and former Miami-Ohio coach Mike Haywood, who was hired to take over for Wannstedt, lasted less than a week, before being fired after an arrest on a domestic battery charge.

With all that was going on, Bennett got the Panthers ready to play, especially on defense. They held a Wildcat offense that had been averaging 33 points a game in check.

Tino Sunseri threw a touchdown pass and ran for another, while Dion Lewis and Ray Graham led a Pittsburgh rushing attack that picked up 263 yards.

A pair of field goals by Dan Hutchins and a one-yard touchdown run by Sunseri in the second quarter gave Pitt a 13-3 lead at the half.

Sunseri found Brock DeCicco for a 13-yard scoring strike early in the third quarter to make it 20-3, and Lewis capped the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run in the fourth.

Lewis finished with 106 yards on 22 carries, while Graham had 91 yards on 17 attempts.

Kentucky (6-7) was also dealing with distractions and played without starting quarterback Mike Hartline, who was suspended after alcohol-related arrest. Morgan Newton got the start under center for the Wildcats and completed 21-of-36 passes for 212 yards and was sacked four times.